For the last forty years, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has served to protect the voting rights of all Americans, and especially racial minorities. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act to stop the voter disenfranchisement that had become commonplace in many parts of the country. Despite the passage of the 15th amendment in 1870, states were still able to disenfranchise minorities through poll taxes, literacy tests, and outright verbal and physical harassment.

The VRA was adopted to prevent this type of disenfranchisement. It designates certain areas of the country as under the protection of the U.S. Justice Department to ensure that voting rights are guaranteed there. These areas, mainly concentrated in southern states, must ask for “preclearance” before making any changes to electoral policies, such as polling hours, locations, registration requirements, or redistricting.